Making Solar Panels Greener

WITH MORE THAN enough sunlight beaming down on Earth to supply humanity’s immense energy demands, there’s little doubt that photovoltaic technology will play a significant role in sating these appetites in a sustainable way. But before solar-cell-laced landscapes spawn green utopian reveries, some argue it’s worth taking a measured look at the environmental impact of photovoltaic technology from cradle to grave. For example, consider crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic solar panels, which currently boast about 80% of the global market. Makers of these panels have borrowed much of their technology from the electronics industry, which relies on an abundance of chemicals and energy-intensive steps that pose risks to human and environmental health. But if companies want to market their photovoltaic panels as a “green technology,” they must instead choose more environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and plan for the panels’ safe disposal, says Dustin Mulvaney, who examines life-cycle analyses of ph...